DETROIT, MI -- Eminem delivers plenty of respect for rising rap star Kendrick Lamar in a New York Times profile of the Compton, Calif. native and believes the Dr. Dre protege is on his way to mega-stardom.

The 41-year Marshall Mathers, who grew up in Detroit and Warren, tells the newspaper Lamar, 27, has "a certain hunger" that separate him from other artists and "raps to be the best rapper in the world."